The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1887-02-03
DR. TALMAGE'S SERMON,
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S
SUNDAY SERMON.
Subject; "The Flyiag Dovcs.N

ahd as the doceS TO their uthdolCS f"-lsaiah
lX.,S.
When God would set fNst beautiful
thought He plants it in tree When He
would maze it toat the waters He fashions it
into fish. When he would have it ghde
the air He mo!ds it into bird. For sol.e
of us the structure and habits of birds have
seating like AXE Of the darkness
throCgh the sunshine. The me allow larS,
with head OF tawn and throat of velvet, and
breast Of gold The red namingo, tying over
the swamp like spark struck from the forge
Of the setting sun. The pelican, black and
white, morning and night tangled in his
wing. They seem to he not more of earth
IMAM Heaven, because they are all the time
vacillatng between the two do not Won
der that Audubon took his gun and tramped
through the American forests to find some
new specimens of bi ds. Biologists have
given whole years to find the track of birds
claw In the rev red sandstone. There is
enough OF God's architecture in a snipes bill
or grouses foot to confuuud all the univer-
sites. Musicians have tried with bars and
clefs to represent the mu ic OF the nghtn-
gale and the robin. One of the first things
that child motto is the swallow at the
caves OF the house, while grandfather
comes out with handful of crumbs
to feel the snowbirds "Behold the fowls of
the air. said Christ in His great sermon, and
Isaiah, looking forward to the time when
there would be a great multitude of people
coming to brist and coming to the chur- h,
Is iemnded OF tock of pigeons alighting on
coop, and then all those pigeon, together
trying to get into the window Of the coop,
aud he cries out in the words of my te Il:
''.Who are these that fly as cloud, and as
tn loves to their wiadowsm
This is memorable day in Brooklyn Tab
Ia I,,,, .ln
day we baut it in. On other days we send
out invitations o the Kings party; to- day
we sit at the banquet. tn other day we
fight the battle: to-day we claim vi tory
thr"ugh our Lord Jesus Christ. Men and
women who have toiled and contribute and
prayed Tor the ad ancement o, this church,
take into your soul to-day with high salts.
faction all tbs scene Bring garlands
and nusi', and spirit of consecra-
tion to celebrate this harvest home.
Oh the mer y of God. People tel me 1t is a
notion. Then put on 1t tour ssift sailing
crafts, with choice ri sging and with com a S
and chart and with skill. ul navigators, aud
tell them to leunt h away and tell us the ex.
tent Oh this o. can # Gods mercy. And
they start, AMI one ship goe to he nth,
and another to the III, and another to the
east,and another to the west, and they sail on
ten THOUSAND years, and after while they
come up to the harbor of Heaven and so e
one cr .eS from the Heavenly land: Have you
found the shore of Gods mercy" and
they rel ly: No shore, no shore to
Gods mercy And then swift an
gels are dispatched from tho throne
AMI thy try to fly across this ocean
sand years, and they fly on MI ion Years
and tnen come la k, aud they fold theil
yincs at the. foot OF the throi. g of Sod, a,,a
Zone one cries out; Have you found tnt
shore to the ocean of Gods mercyF' Ane
they say; mo shore, no sho to the ocear
plead it, pray it. Here is a man bount
hand and foot by Satar, ard one stroke O
this GosNel hammer makes him eSerlast
lng'y free. Mercy, mercy! There il
no height it cannot clear. There Is no depti
it cannot fathom. There is no immensely i
cannot c"mrass. When a large number Of
persons join church the first natural gu s
tion t that arises is, who are they Wnat ha
been their character " here did the,
come from What is their history AnC
SO looking off upon this great multitude wht
to-day have co nected themselves with tn
Christian church, | cry ont i'll the
words of my text; 'Who are these that ii,
as cloud and Us the doves to their windows
They are slaves who have b, en- emancipated
thy are soldiers who have enlisted for
thirty years war; they are heirs OF immor
multitude who flock into the kingdom of Goo
to-day are Ike doves to their windows be
cause they fly low. The eagle dart, up a
though with his beal to strike tn
sun, and many of the other birds fl,
| SO high that sometimes they appea
like specks against the sky, and yol
cannot tell the contour of their bodies
or the style of their plumage. If a sSorts
man discharges his gun at them they are S,
high up they do not for an instant chang
their course But the pigeons fly low. The,
| fly all around the roof of the house; they ti'
around the door. They are afraid of grea
attitudes. They never make any higl
excursions. They are like the soul
who this day come into the dove
cote OF Gods mercy, wanting no higl
things. willing to come down at the feet o
Christ, willing to crawl under the table am
taEe the crumbs that fall from the Master
table. Not so were they once Once the
were proud; once they were pufre1 up; ono
they were inexorabe; once perhafs Il e,
We're very hard to please but not now Tie
have changed their course; they hav
But they fly low. They rememl 9
the years OF their sin--sins of b Y
mood, girlhood, manhood, womanho
dark hrooding, deathful sins, sins agairs
God, sins against the Bible, sins against thei
soul, sins against the Judgment day, sir
against long eternity. They remember
these things They ry low. | have hear
that in England, in an institution OF chatlt
where people are taken and cared for, tha
before they take off the rags OF their povert
and wash oil the filth of ther abominatloi
picture is taken of them as the
are: so that in ter time the
may remember what the institution has dor
I for them And here is j ture of what
were before Christ redeemed u.s. We wei
in the iags of our s'ni and the hith ot on
abomination. Unclean, unciean! Thoug
uow in the light and the peace and tho Dr."
rerity OF the gosHel, aud robed in the righ
eousness of the Son of Col, let us once IN
while come and LOOK at the oil pi ture {
what we once WERE Then we Will II
low, Those souls who come into the kingdoi
TO-DAY sho Id RENE nber that thev are comm
into the resunce of God who hates sin. II
abhors mi 'uity. He cannot abide tram
greSsions. He slew the ls5, 900 OF SEMINAR
eib's hostin a night. Holy, holy, holy
the Lord God Almighty Fly lowl a
emreror thousand years ago planted a ro
b ish whi b is blooming yet, and ninetee
centuri,s 70. at ths foot of the cross ot III
Son of God. a re r)se was plante which
blooming vet You want to sto ~ down an
pluck that rose You want to stoop dow
and breathe that fragrance. oh, for moi
of the hum lity OF the Gospel. Oh, for mol
o. the chlldllke spirit. Leu US ny loM.
This multitude who flock into he kingdoi
of God also come like doves to their win low
because they fly for shelter. The albatro:
makes a throne of the tempest. The set
|. gulls have frolic in the storm, and I'll
higher the srri dances the better thay al
pleased. But the pigions at the first blow {
the northeast storm HE to the dovecot, al
when the birds Of prey, with flashing ey
and iron beaz and filthy talons come dow
the pigeons, the doves, immed at ly HE
the dovecot And so it is with those WI
come here to-day, who enter the kingdom
God. They come what forl For shelte
Sin has been after them. Sorrow has tee
after them. You are followed out by yot
d g when you want him t. go back, and yC
bid him home. You start ON your walk, loo
back and the dog is following. You sa
"Back with you, home with you You {
on. and after while accidentally y,
look back and with sueaky trea
he is still 70 lowing you, and will not go bacl
So, too. after every man there is sone s
following; where he goes this sin goes; who
he STAYS this sin stays: TRYING TO destro
him. trying TO tempt him away from q
rieht, trying tn overthrow him. Every mt
has some besetting sn For every dove
hawk These who come to-day are col
ing for shelter. They say practically:
there is any power in PRAYER. pray for M
if there is ANYTHING in Christian as ociatio
let me try its influence: il there is nnythir
L. hax=